Horgmo’s Backside Rodeo 900 Is Good As Gold In Snowboard Big Air>

Aspen, Colo. – Twenty-year-old Torstein Horgmo is making his first ESPN Winter X Games appearance this year, and he’s already clinched gold.

Tonight he wowed a capacity crowd at the Big Air competition at Aspen/Snowmass, besting a field of three other top riders to win the inaugural Snowboard Big Air Final.

His winning trick? A switch backside rodeo 900 with a shoulder dip.

As with last night’s Skiing Big Air event, voting was split halfway between fan vote and the sport analyst vote. Text-happy X Games fans voted 68% for Horgmo’s last jump, and pro snowboarder Todd Richards gave his blessing as well – no huge surprise, given that co-finalist Kevin Pearce missed his frontside 1260 attempt.

There are no other medals besides gold for Big Air; Horgmo finished first, followed by Pearce, and shredders Travis Rice and Andreas Wiig tied for third place.

“It doesn’t matter who you’re going up against in this contest,” Horgmo said afterwards. “Everybody here has the stuff.”